Just a quick little (late Christmas) NaLu one-shot for you guys. I know it's a little unusual for me...okay, a lot unusual for me to write a canon pairing, but this just popped into my head today. So, I figured I'd give it a try. So, I am dedicating this to my super awesome friend, Nicole4211 who adores NaLu. Love you Niks!

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

HIS FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR

It was finally here...Natsu's favorite time of year, Christmas. Most people tended to think he preferred the summer, simply because he liked the heat, but the fact was, the temperature never bothered him. He could handle hot and cold in equal amounts without any trouble at all. No, what really interested him was what this time of year brought with it. Every year, right at the start of December, Magnolia would be lit up, lights blinking here and there, festive trees propped up in every window, red and green draped over everything. It was like the whole town transformed.

His friends weren't immune to the joy of the season either. They all seemed to smile more this time of year, their faces shining with a little more happiness than before. He loved seeing that and the little extra pep in their steps as they bustled around town gathering the final touches for Christmas. It always amazed him how everyone was just suddenly nicer, even Erza. He'd nearly made it an entire week already without her threatening to beat his ass into the ground.

Then of course there was the food. All the girls in the guild seemed to go nuts during the month of December, bringing armloads of grub to the guild nearly every day. Everything from cakes and pies to casseroles and whole turkeys. It was like heaven. Mira was always the best though, making sure the building was stocked with some of everyone's favorites. Cana of course was the exception. That girl couldn't cook to save her life, and according to her, that was just how she liked it.

But none of that was why he liked this time of year so much. No, the real reason was the candy canes, or more specifically Lucy with the candy canes. Now, he'd never thought much of them. They'd never been too high on his list of favorite things about Christmas, but that was before his partner had come into the picture.

For some reason, that girl loved candy canes. Big, small, any flavor under the sun...she didn't care. To her, they were all perfectly tasty, and that meant during the entire month of December, she went nowhere without a candy cane hanging out of her mouth.

Now, that may not seem like such a big deal. After all, it's just candy, but for Natsu, that meant a full thirty days of watching her lick and suck her way through an ungodly number of stick-shaped goodies. It had become some sort of strange ritual for him, and every year seemed to bring him more and more enjoyment from it.

He'd even developed a favorite. He loved watching her lave over the really big peppermint ones, the ones that looked like his...well, that was beside the point. The first time he'd ever seen her go at one of them, he'd been knee-deep in a fight with the guys, and he just happened to glance in that direction. His mouth had dropped at the sight of her lips stretching over the tip of the long candy cane, and he'd damn near drooled all over Gray when she began pushing it into her mouth. It was just about the sexiest thing he'd ever seen.

Ever since then, he found himself enamored with spying on her with her treats. He couldn't seem to get enough, and today was no different. Once again, she came into the guild, a blue and white striped cane in her hand, and headed straight towards him, her usual smile etched across her face. And just like always, she seemed completely clueless about his fascination with her holiday tradition.

"Hi Natsu!" she chirped as she threw her arms around him, giving him a quick hug.

That moment of closeness was all he needed to catch the scent of her latest flavor...blueberry. It was one of her favorites, and now also one of his. She smelled delicious, and there was a moment, just a single instant when he thought about leaning in and tasting it for himself.

But he couldn't do that. Lucy was his best friend, his partner. Sure, he was sort of perving on her about the candy cane thing, but that was different. At least, he hoped it was. She didn't know he was doing that, so he figured there was no harm. She didn't need to know what he'd done with the information...how he'd sometimes lay in bed at night and let himself picture her kneeling over him...

Oh jeez...he couldn't believe he'd started thinking about that at the guild. Was he nuts? All he needed was one time to get caught with a little extra steel in his pants, and the guys would never let him live it down.

"Um...Natsu, are you okay?" Lucy asked, her head tipped in question.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fi..." He trailed off as he watched her put the thin stick into her mouth and slide it slowly back out.

She drew the candy cane from her mouth and smiled innocently up at him. "What was that?"

"Huh?" he asked dumbly. Now that he wasn't distracted by her feeding the candy into her cute little mouth, he could see she was waiting for something. "Sorry, what'd you say?"

She swiped her tongue across her lip, instantly dragging his mind back to his fantasies, so he had to fight to hear what she was saying. "Are you sure you're alright? You never finished your sentence."

He blinked at her, his mind frantically going over the short conversation to figure out what she was referring to. "Oh right. I'm fine. See? Never better!" he announced with a wide grin, then backed away from her with the saddest excuse he'd ever heard come out of his mouth. "Anyway, I've gotta go to the bathroom..."

He could hear her giggle as he spun around and headed toward the back of the guild. That had to be the stupidest thing he'd ever said. Could he be a bigger dumbass?

Sighing, he made his way to the bathroom. He didn't actually have to go, but now that he'd said that to Lucy, he couldn't very well go back on it. With his luck, he would most certainly be found out as a liar. Then she'd give him those puppy eyes, the ones he couldn't say no to, and he'd end up spilling his guts about the candy canes.

Then, she'd tell Erza, who'd kick his ass, and Mira, who'd squeal and tell everyone in the damn guild. He shuddered. Nope, he was going to make himself piss, even if he had to stand in that bathroom for an hour.

Luckily for him, he managed it in fifteen minutes, which wasn't so bad. At least now, his secret and his ass were safe from the two demons. Turning his attention to the full room, he headed to the bar. He was getting hungry, and Mira had promised him some fire chicken. His mouth watered as he stepped up to the counter, and Mira grinned knowingly before heading to the back.

As he waited, he spun around, leaning his back against the counter and scanning the room for Lucy and hopefully her candy cane. It only took a moment to find her at their usual table, talking to Levy, and sure enough, her mouth was thoroughly occupied with the stick from earlier. He watched as she sucked at it, her full lips closing around the thin treat and sliding down its length. Lucky candy...

He was so taken with the scene before him, he didn't even notice when Gray sidled up beside him. "Playing the perv again, I see."

The words jarred him from his inspection, and he turned his focus on the ice mage with a frown. "What the hell are you talking about?" He sincerely hoped that Gray hadn't caught him ogling their blonde friend. That sure as hell wouldn't end well.

"You're just about drooling again, dumbass." Gray smirked, then nodded towards Lucy. "You ever planning on doing something about that?"

"What? Do something?" Natsu asked. He knew what Gray was getting at, but he couldn't believe the idiot was actually suggesting he make a move on her. Was he mental?

Gray shook his head and jeered, "Don't even try to tell me you're not interested."

"I..." Natsu started, thinking it better to deny, but seeing Gray's expression, decided on the truth. "Alright, I'm interested, but I don't think she is."

The ice mage rolled his eyes. "You're seriously stupid, you know that?"

"What the hell? I'm not stupid, you shithead." The man could annoy Natsu like no one else could. He'd thought they were actually having a real conversation, and Gray had to go and turn it into a fight. Jerk...

"Dude, if you think she's not interested, you're dumber than a box of rocks," Gray stated matter of factly.

Natsu stilled, his heart jolting at the possibility that Lucy might feel something for him. "You think she likes me?"

"No, stupid. I think she likes Elfman. Of course, she likes you," he returned with a sneer. "Can't you tell?"

Ignoring the pitiful insults to his intelligence and the horrible mental picture of Lucy and Elfman together, Natsu answered, "No, how can you tell?"

Gray's reaction was to roll his eyes again and flick his finger in Lucy's direction. "She's doing all that shit to get your attention." Then he walked away mumbling something about leaving in case the idiocy was contagious.

Whatever. Natsu didn't care. His mind was completely and wholly on Lucy. Was there a chance that she was really doing all of this for him? But that would mean that she had been interested for...two years. What the hell? If that was true, why didn't she just tell him? Of course, he hadn't told her how he felt either.

Now that he thought about it, that didn't really sound like him. Why hadn't he just gone for it? He'd never wasted time planning things out or over-thinking things the way most people did. He just trusted his gut, and his gut liked that woman just fine.

He watched as she stood to her feet, still talking to Levy as she pushed her chair in, and he decided he was tired of waiting. If there was a chance, he wanted it. He wasn't the kind of man to let an opportunity pass him by, and Lucy was just about the most golden opportunity he could think of.

Finally feeling settled about the situation, he pushed off from the bar, completely forgetting about his food, and headed over to his partner. He stopped at her side, and grinned at her. "Hey Luce?"

She turned her head and spotting him, smiled back. "Yeah Natsu?" she asked, then popped the striped treat back into her mouth, giving it a long slow suck.

His lips lifted in a smirk at her action. Now he understood what Gray had meant. "I was wondering if I could try some of your candy cane."

Her brow furrowed in confusion, but she pulled it from her mouth. "Um...okay," she said, holding it out to him.

Using the arm she extended, he yanked her forward, straight into his chest, and grinned happily. "Thanks!" His mouth came down on hers a second later, giving her time to do nothing more than gasp, which gave him the perfect opportunity.

He swept his tongue into her mouth, humming at the exquisite flavor he found, the cloying sweetness of the blueberry candy she'd been teasing him with and the taste that was simply Lucy. It was everything he imagined it would be, and as he pulled away, he hoped with all his might that his gamble had paid off.

Lucy gazed up at him, her eyes wide and unblinking, and he began to worry just a bit. Had he read the situation wrong? Had Gray screwed with him again? "Sorry, Luce. I thought..."

He cut off as Lucy smiled, then grabbed at his scarf, pulling him back down. "It's about damn time. I thought I was going to be eating candy canes forever."